More User Reviews:

330 mL bottle picked up at the LCBO; best before Jun 19 2018. I have very little experience with chile beers. Served slightly chilled.

This spiced porter pours a murky brownish-black colour, totally opaque and topped with a beautiful, foamy, deep tan-coloured head. It starts off nearly two fingers high, but slowly recedes over the next five or six minutes, giving rise to a thin collar/cap and a ring of messy, sticky beige lace. This is a beautiful-looking beer, and the aroma is similarly impressive - lots of chipotle smoke comes through easily with each whiff, with lesser contributions of roasted malt, dark chocolate, dark stone fruit and pepper.

Absolutely stellar. Molasses sweetness and roasted malts start things off, with a nice blend of dark chocolate, plums and coffee. Somewhat smoky, with a charry note that leads into the chipotle spice - which provides a nice little kick of chile pepper heat at the tail end of the profile. The pepper lingers into the aftertaste, outlasting the roasted malt sweetness, but still fades with time and fails to build up with each sip (I consider this an advantage, but YMMV). On the heftier side of medium-bodied, with relatively low carbonation levels that only gently agitate the palate - strangely, though, the spicy heat seems to help this one out, providing the illusion of a livelier mouthfeel. This is a delicious beer, but it's still a sipper - the abv isn't all that high, but the heat and bold flavour profile demands a slow, deliberate approach to quaffing.

Final Grade. 4.41, a superb A grade. Texas Ranger is the best chile beer I've ever tried. That in and of itself is not saying very much - because I've only had one other chile beer, and it was pretty forgettable. This one, on the other hand, is an excellent spiced porter that possesses just the right amount of peppery heat - it's impossible to ignore, but not so pungent as to drive people away, or to make finishing the bottle a chore (at least, the small bottle I picked up - a bomber would be a bit much for me). Unique and delicious - absolutely worth a shot, and probably the most interesting Mikkeller beer to be brought into the LCBO (save perhaps the Black). (2,193 characters)

Poured into a becker a deep chocolate brown with a fluffy tan colored head that left broken globs of lace as it settled into a frothy mass.Sweet smoked chili,roasted nut,and bitter chocolate in the nose.Bitter chocolate and some roast at the onset on the palate then comes a big shot of smoke and spice in a lingering finish.This is what a smoked/chili porter should be,all elements get their turn,nice job. (407 characters)

Thanks to Jeff for cracking this one. It pours a continuous black, only broken up by the darkest brown and ruby edges that hug the glass. The cloud-like tan head grows as big as the beer itself and is very slow to settle. Thick sheets of lace stick to the glass as the frothy head makes its descent.

Simply put, the aroma is full of roast and spice. Toasted and nearly burnt, roasted malts with some char, coupled with zesty, peppery and chipotle barbecue-ish spices. There's definitely some spicy heat coming off the aroma, and it's backed by a mild smokiness with a light, peaty undercurrent.

The taste pretty much follows through exactly where the aroma leaves off. Pretty smokey up front with a quick rush of BBQ-like chipotle peppers that invade the palate quickly. It's actually not as tingly-spicy as I was expecting, rather the flavor of the peppers and the spices are more prominent than their actual heat; that is definitely a good thing.

Roasty malts are the structure of everything, though they're pretty light in comparison to the heavy chipotle spice. I really like the flavors of this brew; the problem is, they are intense enough to kind of wear the palate down quick. Drinking this is copious amounts would be difficult, even at only 6.6% ABV. Medium bodied, medium carbonation, with a pretty smooth and lightly creamy mouth feel.

Definitely an interesting beer, and even a bit different than most of your smoked options. Chipotle peppers are easily identifiable, and while tasty, a little bit certainly goes a long way. Would be good in smaller pours of 4 oz or so, but finish even half a bottle would be a challenge for me. (1,646 characters)

The beer pours dark brown to black with a tan head. The aroma is chipotle peppers, roasted malt and some smoke. The flavor is great. I get roasted malt, chocolate, smoke and pepper with some medium heat. There is a little burn in the flavor which is very nice. Thick mouthfeel and low to medium carbonation. (307 characters)

Served on tap in a Bordeaux style glass at Grape Juice in Kerrville, Texas.

Brew has a chocolate froth colored head of about 1" over a dark, opaque brew. Smell is of coffee.... with light hints of mocha.

Taste follows coffee smell is well balanced flavors. Very smooth and chipotle flavor is subtle; just right in my opinion. I've had other chipotle brews which - to me - seemed far too "hot." Texas Ranger is perfect, IMHO.

Excellent mouthfeel and finish is quick and pleasant - especially considering this is a porter.

Appearance: looks like a freshly poured espresso, almost black, with a milk chocolate head

Aroma: black licorice, fresh pine hops (upon realizing this has chili pepper, think that is what I was actually picking up here), dark chocolate, something almost floral, vanilla

Tate & Mouthfeel: chocolate at first, but rapidly taken over by rich, dark roasted coffee that is just sliding into burnt territory and acquiring the associated bitterness, but not so much that it overpowers the robust coffee taste; long finish is of pure dark cocoa, even including a slight powdery mouthfeel; mild and fine carbonation with a medium-heavy body make for a luxurious feel; hint of chili heat is a nice touch and build over time playing a more significant role

Overall: the big, powerful, deep roast malt flavours are fantastic, with chocolate and malt pairing up beautifully with the chipotle heat; saddle up, it packs a punch (915 characters)

Poured into a snifter black with a thick tan head. Good lacing. Smells strong of stale smoke. Not too terribly appealing. The taste is of deep smoke also with strong coffee taste. The chili begins to warm your mouth after about 30 seconds. It also isn't too terribly appealing in taste.

I don't know that this is such a great drinking beer. BUT . . . I bet this would make a GREAT marinating beer. Stick a nice NY Strip in some of this for about 12 hours and you might get something. (484 characters)

A thick medium brown in color, this brew certainly looks the part. A nice, creamy light tan head between one and two fingers tall hoilds itself well and leaves patchy lacing in good quantity on the glass.Chocolate notes with some roast are found in the nose with a touch of coffee, the heat of the peppers just rising up a bit underneath. As I'd hope with any good beer brewed with peppers, the pepper flesh is detectable, even slightly vegetal wihout being overly so.It all comes out in the flavor as well with a nice, almost but not quite peaty flavor coming out. A bit of smoke is the result, and it works. The pepper isn't just to blow the drinker away with heat: it builds up, keeping the flavor all the way while the heat radiates at the back of the throat. Otherwise, it's almost sweet in the malty aspect of it. This beer is actually surprisingly dry at times, a medium-bodied brew with just a touch of crispness and a decent smoothness as well. People seem enemaored with the thickness of it, but nobody mentions that it actually tends to go a little thin here and there.While I'd take a Stone Smoked w/ chipotle, this is a very good beer. If I could, this beer's flavor would be a 4.3 while Stone's would be a 4.7, but I an't do that. Oh well. Guess I'll just have a tasty porter with chipotle peppers. (1,316 characters)

This beer pours a solid black, no highlights to speak of, and I looked hard for them, with a teeming amount of spillage-baiting tight foamy milk chocolate brown head, which sinks away lazily, rendering a pleasantly consistent array of forest-scape lace around the glass.

It smells of acrid smoked wood, kind of medicinal, or fishy, maybe. Whew - lots of meaty character in this haze, soaked up a bit inadequately by the base chocolate and mildly caramelized malts. The taste is more straight ahead big chocolate and caramel malt, a bit of charred BBQ veggie skewer ash, some fairly strong bitter leafy and earthy hops, all blindsided by a subtly rising metallic capsicum heat.

The carbonation is quite sedate, few bubbles stepping out of line, the body a sturdy medium weight, the spicy edge taking a chunk out of an assumed smoothness. It finishes somewhat surprisingly sweet, as the heat takes a breather, letting the singed cocoa malt apply its salve.

It's a wee shame that the heat, enjoyable as it is, tends to obscure the interplay of the spiked malt, under-appreciated hop bitterness, and subtle singular smokiness. Oh well - it all seem to work, in that there is no shortage of aggressive flavour here. (1,228 characters)